In The Spotlight

As Billy and the Bravos prepare for their halftime appearance, flashbacks of the battle scene propel the plot and flesh out the characters. Most poignant is Sergeant Shroom (a nice turn by Vin Diesel), part father figure, part philosopher. “You shouldn’t keep asking why,” the sergeant tells Billy who is searching for meaning in war and life. But there is little solace and less sincerity in the Shroom’s worn nostrums and contradictory actions. “It doesn’t have to be about God or country. Just find something bigger than yourself.” It is the sergeant who leads his company in late night raids into suspects’ houses where unproven “terrorists” are bagged and taken from their shrieking families, never to return.

“People only believe what they themselves experience. It's fruitless to think we can convince them to change with our words. Preachers have tried that for hundreds of years! Yet, we cannot help but try. Perhaps the experiences we as a nation have in the next four years will awaken enough people to make a lasting difference in our country.”

The “magic” of becoming a goddess is described admirably by the Duke of Windsor (Alex Jennings) in the 5th Episode of The Crown, the brilliant television series created and written by Peter Morgan and produced by Left Bank Pictures for Netflix. There is nothing occult about this. It is a transformation of the psyche, which takes place in the unconscious for most of us, but which convinces us that the transformation to the higher plane has taken place. In Great Britain, this transformation is accomplished by a Coronation, but in the United States we call it an Inauguration.

Carl Jung Depth Psychology

Load More Videos

As we’ve watched the devolution of the Republican Party in 2016, I couldn’t help but think of the metaphors suggested by Alec Guinness’s 1957 Academy Award winning performance in the 1957 Best Picture, The Bridge Over the River Kwai. This clip captures the essence of what I am talking about with:

Alec Guinness as Donald Trump and all of the actual leaders of the GOP;

The Bridge as the sclerotic structure of the GOP, which has used the same shop worn social issues and veiled bigotry to cobble together an electoral majority for 40 years;

What happens next as the opportunity to build something new that actually helps their fellow Americans in their actual lives; and